Gravity is also a constant and unrelenting force yet we still fly airplanes.
Are there things like airplanes that defy market forces in a controlled manner that can help small businesses?
Prices don't care about externalities. External consequences, not consequences per some sort of time window. Markets are actually often as good as can be expected at taking time into account at least as it may pertain to a particular good in question.
> Are there things like airplanes that defy market forces in a controlled manner
Markets exist because there are finite amounts of things, you can't really defy that. It would be nice if tradeoffs never needed to exist.
There are similar tradeoffs in markets -- the town here made one of those tradeoffs in excluding Walmart. They relegated their residents to buying from higher priced stores or driving further to shop at a big box store. And they (and I) were happy with that tradeoff.
The tradeoff they have available against e-commerce is higher local taxes on all goods purchased with subsidies from those taxes going back to brick and mortar locations. (You can't only tax mail order goods without violating the interstate commerce clause, as I understand it.)
no, you can't. everywhere people trade, there's a market. all you can do is raise the costs associated with legal markets, and deprive those engaging in trade of the rule of law.
take a look at the drug cartels for what happens when you try and legislate markets totally out of existence.